Photo Flash: Lily Rabe, David Furr et al. in The Public Theater's AS YOU LIKE IT

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Patrick Willingham) began previews on Tuesday, June 5, for AS YOU LIKE IT, the first show of The Public's 50th Anniversary season at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park--home of free Shakespeare in the Park. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, AS YOU LIKE IT will continue for four weeks through Saturday, June 30, with an official press opening on Thursday, June 21.

Grammy and Emmy winning actor/comedian/musician and bestselling author Steve Martin composed original music for AS YOU LIKE IT, which features a live Bluegrass band. AS YOU LIKE IT is Shakespeare's most musical play, containing more songs than any other. Sullivan will set the play's famous Forest of Arden in the rural American South, circa 1840, where folk and roots music perfectly capture the mood of the time.

Tickets for Shakespeare in the Park are free and distributed the day of the performance. All performances are at 8:00p.m. For ticket information and performance schedule, visit www.shakespeareinthepark.org or call 212-539-8750. The Delacorte Theater in Central Park is accessible by entering at 81st Street and Central Park West or at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue.

The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park is celebrating its 50th Anniversary at The Delacorte this summer. Shakespeare in the Park officially opened in Central Park on June 18, 1962 with The Merchant of Venice, featuring then-unknown actors George C. Scott and James Earl Jones. Since 1962 more than 150 productions have been presented for free by The Public Theater at the Delacorte and more than five million people have enjoyed productions of Shakespeare, other classical works, and musicals at the Delacorte over the last 50 years.

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals and productions of classics at its downtown home and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public Theater's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day on stage and through extensive outreach and education programs. Each year, more than 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public Theater's productions have won 42 Tony Awards, 158 Obies, 42 Drama Desk Awards and four Pulitzer Prizes. Fifty-four Public Theater Productions have moved to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones; That Championship Season; A Chorus Line; For Colored Girls…; The Pirates of Penzance; The Tempest; Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Topdog/Underdog; Take Me Out; Caroline, or Change; Passing Strange; the revival of HAIR; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Merchant of Venice.